Looking for a new card? Here are my favorites for points travel
(These posts contain referral links if you find the information helpful. Please read carefully before signing up for anything. Please do your own research and consider your financial situation before proceeding.)
1
Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserved
These cards earn Ultimate Reward (UR) points which transfer to many different partners (not to be confused with booking through the Chase Portal), my favorites being Hyatt, Air France and Air Canada. You can find the full list here. The annual fee for the preferred is $95/year and the annual fee for the reserved is $550. Each come with its own list of benefits, which may be worth more than the cost of the annual fee of the card, so you can look through them and see which card would best suit your needs.
2
Chase Ink Business
(Cash and Unlimited)
These are Chase Business Cards. They have no annual fee and earn UR points. The Chase Ink Business Cash earns 5x points at office supply stores, making gift card purchases there a smart choice. The Chase Ink Business Unlimited earns 1.5x on all purchases which makes it a good choice for every day purchases that would otherwise only earn 1x per dollar on purchases. You can combine these UR points you earn on these cards to your Chase Sapphire cards to transfer to travel partners (but cannot transfer without them)
3
American Express Gold
These American Express cards earn Membership Rewards (MR) points, and can also transfer to various travel partners (a different list than Chase, but with some overlapping partners such as Air France). I love American Express because you can link the card to Rakuten (formerly ebates) in order to earn your cash back in the form of MR points, and when used properly, can hold a lot more value. The annual fee for the American Express Gold Card is $250. It's a little steeper, but the Gold card earns 4x on groceries and dining, and both cards come with additional benefits and perks which may likely offset the cost of the annual fee if you can use them (i.e. $10 monthly credit on Uber (Eats)/Grubhub- I order for pick up and get 2 free meals a month, so $240 credit yearly).
